One of the privileges of being part of the SQUA.RE community, is in how we have been able to build ties with a series of truly inspiring creators. Since over a year ago, even before a highly recommendable interview earlier this year, I have had the pleasure of interacting regularly with the very talented Giampiero Arcese, who is a SQUA.RE member and the creative director for the female side of the renowned Italian house of Brioni.

The new collection, shown in Milan this season, was a veritable show of sheer elegance. Of all of Milan, Suzy Menkes concludes in her “Blame it on Berlusconi” special report that it is the most elegant collection of the season!

Below is our latest session with Mr. Arcese.

The collection is a beautiful celebration of the modern woman, a key inspiration in Giampiero’s universe, all in utterly graceful and luxurious fabrics with designs of feminine elegance infused with a pinch of masculinity adding balance of power to the gentle and subtle femininity.

High-waisted pleated pants and shorts with blouses and marvelous blazer-like coats, beautiful tones of white, grey and hues of light blue in men-inspired fabrics mixed with beautiful silk prints all truly make this collection a reverence to the charismatic lady of the XXIst century, the powerful seductress.

Olivier Bassil: Giampiero, it is always striking to hear about your inspirations. Last season, you mentioned personal inspirations as broad as the Japanese samurai or the emancipation of women in the 20s and 30s, using that memorable painting of Tamara de Lempicka driving her green Bugatti! What inspired you for this collection?

Giampiero Arcese: For the Spring Summer collection I wanted to explore the idea of traveling but from a different perspective. The travel I mean is not only a journey around the world or to some specific places, but is also the daily trip that every woman does from the time she gets out of her home to start a new day as the protagonist of whatever she decides to do or of wherever she’s going to go.

As you know, Olivier, my inspiration never comes from a single source, and then I’ve melted together with this new collection the souvenirs from the places a female traveler is going to visit. Some of the volumes and the silhouettes from the show are clearly taken from the costumes of the people living in remote villages of Thailand, China or Africa. I always find intriguing the idea of combining together contrasting styles for which it would usually be impossible to be together in the same room or in the same collection.

Besides all this, there is also the research of what to put into the ideal duffle bag she brings with her during her trip; considering that Brioni has a strong heritage and tradition in menswear, my S/S 2010 woman will literally “steal” clothes from her husband’s closet. Made to measure jackets, boxer pants, tuxedos, even the idea of men’s braces is taken from the same drawers. The result is extraordinary feminine because she never forgets her role; she is always aware of the power that femininity wields in our society and she re-invents the rules of this game exactly using in a seductive way elements coming from the man’s world.

Last but not least, the theme of the journey itself brings the idea of comfort and functionality, without giving up elegance and beauty. Some of the key pieces of this collection, such as the foulard dress or the jersey two-pieces, are cut in a way that they can be easily folded into a small fabric rectangle and placed inside a pocket or in a small clutch, just like the crocodile ones you have seen in the show.

OB: The colours chosen in the collection are very much identifiable and give an immediate perception of authentic luxury. We are certainly adepts at SQUA.RE of luxurious colour schemes and fabrics, such as the fades of gold and silver silk tones. Also of high interest to us are the classical patterns used on some of the designs. What is your recipe to glamour and sheer elegance?

GA: The colours of the Spring Summer 2010 collection come from a palette of authentic fabrics for man’s suits; even the prints I’ve used recall man’s ties and scarves motifs. As you can see, once again, my inspiration always considers the sartorial tradition of the house Brioni as the starting point of my creative route. It couldn’t be different.

I do not really have a recipe to elegance! I think that everyone should indulge to his/her own sense of freedom in choosing all the components of his/her image; freedom of being yourself, freedom of stating your own idea of elegance in spite of trends and fashion’s impositions; freedom to be “out of the schemes”, to interpret your own style in an individual and cosy way, beyond seasons and times.

You get “glamorous” only when you really feel comfortable with your choice, when you feel that you look exactly what you want to be.

OB: So, in essence, who is the Brioni woman?

GA: I would say that the woman who inspires my collections is the one who feels very strongly the sense of freedom and individuality I was referring to before… It doesn’t matter what age or nationality. Brioni women’s wear is a kind of club: if you like the codes of our club you can join it.

OB: I remember you telling me about the different places you regularly go to around the year. Can you tell me more about this itinerary? Where does your work take you? And how do you draw inspiration from it?

GA: The places I go during the year are all the fashion capitals around the world, Paris in primis, the city I love the most and the city where I’d like to live one day, not so far.

What really inspires my work is my personal archive of images, emotions, sounds and perfumes I keep inside of me, developed during several years of globetrotting. Fragments of beauty I’ve seen in extraordinary places, such as, for instance, around the lake Turkana, in Kenya, or visiting a temple at Bhaktapur in Nepal, and so on in India or Japan or Thailand….. and many other places I’ve had the chance to visit throughout my life! Of each of these places I have saved a souvenir inside me ready to drive and flow, and in the meantime, I follow my fantasy and my creativity when the time comes for them.